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Day 2 – Part 3 Conquering the Magic Kingdom!
Having adequately
stuffed ourselves and safely escaped security, we were on our way
to the Magic Kingdom. But
first, a quick stop in the restroom. On
previous trips, Goofy Guy and I spend most of the time alone. Why do I mention this you ask? We’re used to VERY few restroom
breaks! When you are with 8 people, it’s
remarkable how much time you spend in those little stalls. Do
our bladders get smaller in big groups or do we just prefer to
travel in packs? I
may never know. While in the restroom, I decided to take
the time and put on my body glide.
Here’s
another interruption to this trip report to bring you this newsflash. Goofy Guy and I have been married for
7 years and have been to Disney every one of those years. I don’t think I have ever, and
I mean EVER, returned home without having blisters on both feet
and requiring some serious sympathy from Goofy Guy (and a Mickey
ice cream bar doesn’t hurt either). This year was going to be different. I did my research and discovered teva
sandals and body glide. I
was skeptical about wearing sandals in Disney, but I was willing
to give it a go. If anyone complained about sore feet
on this trip, it wasn’t going to be me! It
was time to find out if my research had paid off.
The boys came as close as they could to
turning into Tigger as they were bouncing off the walls. It was quite impressive really. After a quick jaunt on the monorail (we
didn’t ride in the front this time – I guess other
people deserve some magic too) we arrived at the Magic Kingdom. We
enter Main Street and I felt the familiar tears rising with my
first sight of the castle. Pass
the Kleenex. What a glorious view. I’m a little ashamed to admit that
my pure joy was heightened with a sense of smugness. There
were a bunch of characters around signing autographs and posing
for pictures. We were
able to walk right on by with not a single complaint from the boys. Admittedly
there were characters there who were not our breakfast companions
this morning, but the boys seemed satisfied with the autographs
they had. What a sense of freedom!
It was now early Monday
afternoon. We knew
that it wasn’t the ideal time to go to the Magic Kingdom
since it’s traditionally a very busy day and afternoons are
always busier anyway. Plus,
it was HOT! Fanlover
was already giving her fan batteries a real workout. We figured we’d just walk around,
soak in the atmosphere, and do what we could. First
stop was Philharmagic, which only had a 10-minute wait. In our opinion, Philharmagic encompasses
all that is good about Disney. There
is something for everyone. Incidentally,
I’m still willing to be Jasmine’s replacement. Anyone
else have a crush on Aladdin?
In case you were wondering,
that darn balloon was still following us. Cocoa
BIL had tied the balloon to his camera case. He somehow received the pleasure of carrying
the balloon for the day. He
was starting to rival Dapper Dad as father of the year. I
don’t think I even heard the boys acknowledge that balloon
again that day, but darn it, we weren’t going to give up
that balloon after all we went through to get it! It’s
a Small World was next in line. I
hadn’t seen it since it was refurbished so I was curious
to see it. The boys
seemed to really enjoy it. ToT
sis gave Splashboy a running commentary of the different countries
and a little trivia about each one. I
think she may be available for tours if anyone’s interested.
We grabbed a fast
pass for Peter Pan (something silly like a 60 minute standby wait)
and went to the Haunted Mansion. This
was the moment of truth. Since
ToT sis and I grew up with Disney, we wanted to share that magic
with her children and that definitely included the Haunted Mansion. We
hadn’t figured out our strategy yet for getting the boys
on rides that they were a little nervous about. Their
little friends from home had been on this ride and really enjoyed
it so we knew they’d want to ride too. The
stretch room is quite scary isn’t it? A
few tears were shed here, but nothing too serious. I
did calm down eventually.
Both boys bounced
off the ride and said they really liked it. Go
figure! After a battery
change for Fanlover’s fan (we’d only been here for
an hour or so but we were melting), we made it over for the next
showing of the Country Bear Jamboree. I was excited to see the show with
Dapper Dad again as he has always been Big Al’s number one
fan. Well, it became abundantly clear on this
trip that Boomer takes after his grandfather. Yes,
as soon as Big Al started to sing, you could barely hear him over
Boomer’s laughter! My
dad knew he loved his grandson for a reason! What
a touching moment – our family bonding over Big Al’s
song about blood on a saddle. Anyone
else find that mildly disturbing? ;)
The park seemed to
be very crowded today (and did I mention hot?) yet we were getting
so much accomplished! Admittedly
we weren’t hitting the most popular attractions, but we knew
we’d hit those later on the trip during the extra magic hour. We
practically walked on the Pirates of the Caribbean next. This one was another big hit with the
boys. I think I found
the pirate with two patches on his eyes. Is
he in the big pirate ship? Next
stop was the Enchanted Tiki Birds. Our
timing was perfect because the pre-show had just ended when we
arrived. The show was amusing as usual, though
I was struck by how tired I was now. My
adrenaline rush was giving way to my two nights of little sleep. I felt like joining Iago in the House
of President’s for a nap.
Just as the show let
out, we noticed that the Share a Dream parade had just started. The boys really wanted to watch it so
we thought we’d try to get a bit closer to give them a better
look. A very nice woman allowed the boys to
stand in front of her so they had a great view. Aladdin
winked at me from the parade. I really need to call my agent.
It was time to go
on Peter Pan. This
was ToT sis and Cocoa Bil’s first real introduction to fast
pass and they were impressed! She said that when you combine this with
the diamond lot voucher from earlier today, we really WERE royalty. Boomer asked if I would ride with him
on Peter Pan. I was touched. I
was REALLY touched. I
mean, this is THE ride of ALL rides that the boys were looking
forward to experiencing. I was going to run out of Kleenex. Both boys loved Peter Pan and said they’d
like to ride it again. Well,
considering how long the wait was, that would have to wait for
another day. Any line over 20 minutes is too long
for this clan. I was
afraid we’d melt.
Ice cream time! We found a little cart near the teacups
that accepted our dining cards. We split up so that some of us
could get ice cream and others could to do the teacups ride. Since
there were other adults willing to get dizzy on the teacups with
the boys, I decided to wait on solid ground and eat my ice cream
without having my stomach in my throat. We
then wandered towards Tomorrowland, which seemed very busy too.
Yet, we still managed to do quite a bit. We
walked onto the Carousel of Progress. I
sang along and had a grand ole time while Goofy Guy slept. Either
he was really tired too, or I need to take singing lessons.
One of Fanlover’s
favourite rides is the TTC (it’s still the people mover to
me). It’s such
a relaxing ride and gives such a great overview of Tomorrowland. Just
before boarding, a CM stopped Cocoa BIL and said that the balloon
was not allowed on the ride. He had to leave it with the CM.
That darn balloon!! I was ready to steal a pin from Fanlover’s
hair… The balloon was attached to his camera case so he
was going to have to really trust this CM. Being
the good sport that Cocoa Bil is, he surrendered his camera bag
and boarded the ride. He
had never been on it before and was interested in seeing Space
Mountain from the TTC. I don’t think he was even worried
about his camera.
He probably figured
I was worried enough for both of us.
We disembarked the
TTC and proceeded to look for the CM with the camera bag and annoying
balloon. He was gone! GONE! The
guy had run off with the camera bag. He
probably stomped on the balloon too.
What were we going
to do? Now, admittedly, these panic-filled thoughts were all experienced
in all of 5 seconds. However,
there never was a problem. The
CM simply went off duty and gave the camera bag and balloon to
his replacement. Problem solved and Cocoa Bil was fine – he
never was worried. My
Drama Queen self was exhausted. I
needed a drink.
Amazingly, there was
only a 10-minute wait for Buzz Light year. It
was here that I introduced the boys to hidden Mickey’s. Splashboy was particularly interested
and maintained that interest for the rest of the trip. He even pointed out some hidden Mickey’s
to me! We knew
we weren’t going to get near Space Mountain today, so we
headed towards the Jungle Cruise. On the way, Cocoa Bil asked if we could
go up the Swiss Family tree house. Fanlover
and Dapper Dad didn’t want to do that in this heat, so we
told them that we’d meet them at the Jungle Cruise once we
were finished. Just when you think you know what children
will really enjoy or not enjoy, they go and do something to surprise
you! Splashboy was fascinated with the plumbing
in the tree. He was
having so much fun climbing the stairs and finding where the water
was leading. I’m so glad we went. Sure I was melting, but it was worth
it. I think a little rainstorm was coming
anyway.
Did I say little? I meant TORENTIAL rainfall!!! We made it to the Jungle cruise queue
just before the rain came down in droves. Hopefully
it would cool us off a bit since I was convinced Fanlover was going
to run out of fan batteries. It
actually made the Jungle Cruise tour particularly fun in the rain. Once we left the boat, we all dug into
our bags to get our ponchos. We
were prepared for weather like this.
Well, most of us were
anyway.
Let’s see…I
know I had my poncho here somewhere………Doh! It’s
sitting, neatly, in my suitcase that we’ll never see again
according to Fanlover, back at the hotel.
Perfect! I didn’t want to slow everyone
else down because of my carelessness, so we decided to brave the
rain and walk towards Splash Mountain.
I ducked under any
shelter I could find, stepping on anyone and anything that got
in my way. But, I had to face facts. I was SOAKED! Thankfully I wasn’t wearing a white
t-shirt. We decided
to take a restroom and water break and reassess our day. When
the rain stopped, we decided to try Splash Mountain. Heck, I was wet anyway! This ride was going to be tricky.
Both boys had heard
about Splash Mountain and thought they’d like to ride. We’d soon find out. As we walked closer to the mountain,
fear was definitely rising in the boys, not to mention Fanlover! We didn’t want to become those
families who drag their kids kicking and screaming on rides, but
we knew Splashboy in particular, would be disappointed in himself
if he didn’t try it. With our fingers crossed and minds full
of positive thoughts, we got in line.
Day 2 - Part 4...
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